‘The film is like a jewel that you need to hold up to the light to see it sparkle. It is rich with the lives of ordinary people leading a life that is far from ordinary and can be mysterious. It is about a struggle to make sense of the unusual and a desire to be understood.’Errol, Bristol Hearing Voices Network

For the past 3 years, filmmaker and psychoanalyst Conor McCormack has documented the Bristol Hearing Voices Network – a self-help group for people who hear voices and have other unusual experiences.

The result of this collaboration is In the Real, a 59 min observational documentary film which goes right to the heart of the voice-hearing experience. Who, or what, are the voices that only these men can hear? What do they say and what do they mean? And how does hearing voices transform their sense of self and world?